Horticultural Therapist and Deputy Manager

Job details
Location: 
Share Garden - Springfield Hospital, Glenburnie Road, SW17 7DT
Closing date: 
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - 10:00
Interview date: 
Thursday 26th April 2018
Salary: 
£23,500 - £27,330 pro rata depending on experience, plus 3% pension contribution
Contract type: 
Permanent
Working hours: 
30 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 9am – 4pm. You’ll receive a 1 hour unpaid lunch break.
Reports to: 
Horticulture Training Manager
Contact email address: 
hradmin@sharecommunity.org.uk
Contact telephone number: 
0207 801 9825

The role

This role will involve working with groups of disabled adults studying horticulture who have a range of learning, physical and mental health needs. You will help to ensure our students make progress and achieve their goals around wellbeing, health, independence and personal development. You’ll use a multidisciplinary person centred approach, which will involve liaising with other professionals, such as social workers and psychologists. You will find different ways of engaging students through horticultural therapy practice and will use assessment methods and outcome measurements in order to record, monitor and evaluate achievements. You will work with a group of students on everyday gardening skills such as weeding, planting, watering, potting on, mulching, nursery based activities and jobs involving garden machinery. You will maintain daily records about students’ progress. This role will also include deputising for the Horticulture Training Manager when they are off site.   

Once our students have achieved their qualifications, you will support the work of our Job Coach in preparing students for employment either within our social enterprises or externally. We are a working garden, open for sales to the public, and all students are encouraged to gain experience in the nursery and customer sales.

Who we are looking for

Our ideal candidate will have experience of delivering horticulture therapy to adults or young people in an educational or community based learning environment, ideally with a key specialism in autism. You will have or be studying towards a horticultural therapist qualification. You’ll also need to have a strong interest and skills in horticulture, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as resilience, patience, understanding, tolerance and the ability to work with a wide range of people.

About us

At Share, we’re passionate about supporting disabled people to set their own goals for learning and life, and then helping them to achieve their aspirations. Most of our students are people with learning disabilities and/or autism. We offer a range of training, employment, personal development, and leisure opportunities. Enabling people to be more independent and self-directed, able to make informed choices, healthier and more resilient, and fully socially included is at the heart of our work.  Our programmes reflect modern needs and focus on digital skills, health and wellbeing, and developing robust pathways into independent living and employment. Most of our training programmes lead to nationally recognised qualifications.  We use the Outcomes Star to help people to set goals for learning and life, and to track their achievements.

We believe that everyone has something of value to offer others, and we focus and build on people’s abilities and interests.  Our students thrive in a positive and affirming environment. We support and encourage people to speak up about what’s important to them, make connections with other services and organisations, increase understanding of the world, get more involved in community life, and understand their responsibilities.

Job Description

  • To guide, support and supervise adults with learning, physical and mental health needs, especially autism within Share’s horticultural project
  • To support students to become more confident and independent, and to improve their wellbeing
  • To liaise with other professionals, such as social workers and psychologists, to provide a person-centred, high quality service to our students
  • Using your horticultural therapy skills, to improve the wellbeing of students who may have complex sensory or communication support need.
  • Using a solutions-focused approach, to deliver workshops and coaching in a group and on a one to one basis, specific to the participant’s individual needs
  • To support students to understand their individual preferences, strengths, and limitations, and to identify support needs and solutions, capturing this evidence for use within Share’s Outcome Star
  • To deputise for the Horticulture Training Manager when they are off site. This will include taking the responsibility to lead the team and oversee all operations at the garden, as well as providing support to students, staff and volunteers as required
  • To complete all administration tasks required to manage student’s progress including the updating of student records using Share’s management information system, and regular reporting to the Horticulture Training Manager and Wellbeing team
  • To work at all times in a spirit of positivity and encouragement and in a way that values diversity
  • To attend internal and external meetings and events as required

Person Specification

Essential skills and experience

  1. Experience of delivering therapeutic activities to disabled adults or young people in a educational or community based learning environment, ideally with a horticultural focus;
  2. Knowledgeable in how to support disabled adults to live more independently, with a key interest in the field of autism;
  3. Horticultural therapist qualification, or working towards one;
  4. A strong interest in and practical skills in horticulture;
  5. Proficient user of digital technology, including Microsoft Office, databases and mobile technology
  6. Excellent problem solving skills and high level of resilience;
  7. Ability to assist clients to discover and overcome their personal barriers and set achievable goals;
  8. Ability to follow guidelines carefully, whilst using initiative to make the activities accessible for students with diverse needs;
  9. Understanding what is required in the horticultural industry, including health and safety and initial work requirements;
  10. Excellent administration and record-keeping skills and the ability to prepare appropriate reports;
  11. Experience of working as part of a team and the ability to motivate and inspire others;
  12. Enjoyment of working outside in all weathers;

Essential personal qualities

  1. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
  2. Personal resilience and the ability to think on your feet
  3. Excellent time management and prioritising skills;
  4. Patience, understanding, and tolerance;
  5. Enjoyment of working with a range of people with a wide range of different needs and experiences;

Desirable

  1. Nursery or plant sales experience;
  2. First aid qualification;
  3. Clean driving licence.

How to apply:

Please complete our application form and equal opportunities form and return both as Word documents by Wednesday 18th April at 10am to hradmin@sharecommunity.org.uk.

If you would like to have chat about the role before applying, please contact Leanne Wood on leannew@sharecommunity.org.uk or 0207 801 9825. 

We focus on ability and believe people work best when they feel valued, safe and happy. We do all that we can to make sure that Share is friendly and welcoming to everyone.

This job is subject to two satisfactory references, evidence of qualifications, an enhanced DBS check and providing evidence of right to work in the UK. If you have a disability and would like to discuss other ways of submitting your application, please call Leanne on 0207 801 9825.

We are very much looking forward to receiving your application.